Fill A Stocking
November 26 begins TPC’s annual Fill A Stocking program. Each year the TPC family works with the Presbyterian Night Shelter Veterans Program to bring some Christmas joy to their Veteran guests by providing stockings filled with goodies. This year we are continuing this tradition with a bit of a twist. We will be stuffing bags instead of stockings. It is our hope that these bags will better contain the gifts as well as provide a reusable bag for the recipient.
More about the Presbyterian Night Shelter Veterans Program…
There are 88 veterans staying at the shelter. There are three stages that Vets at the shelter work through.
- Stage One: Any veteran that comes in asking for help is immediately given a bed in the main floor, in a separated area with other veterans apart from the rest of the shelter.
- Stage Two: From there, they work their way to the upstairs level which has more individual rooms, etc.
- Stage Three: The goal is for them to work their way to the Patriot House across the street, where they work on getting back out into the world on their own.
The entire Veterans program has 88 Veterans, and this year Trinity has the opportunity to provide stockings for all 88 of these soldiers (86 are men and 2 are women this year).
This is a fantastic opportunity to both thank them for their service and spread some much needed Christmas Joy. We’ve been asked to provide bags filled with small “treasures” (see below for suggestions). These are personal items that are needed in their day-to-day lives and items that are simply fun! The coordinator suggested the Dollar Tree at a great resource for a lot of these items. Please try to limit the size and quantities of your gifts to fit into the bag as the guests have limited space to store their gifts.
Please pick up your bag(s) in the church lobby, fill it with goodies, and return to the church on or before December 17.
Some suggested items for the bags are:
| Playing cards Hats/Gloves Shaving Cream Deodorant Disposable Razors (always in short supply) |
Shampoo Body Wash Toothbrush/Toothpaste Candy Sudoku Books Crossword Puzzles |
Or, anything that’s simply fun! Be creative!
